Saturday, October 11, 2008

Gray Day and a Cup o' Joe

For scheduling reasons, we had to get moving early this morning - well at least by 7:15. When the mercury is sitting at 39 degrees, that is early enough. We needed to be time efficient, so we took off from the front door and ran a loop on the trails in Ute Valley Park. Must have been a schedule sort of day because we saw several other runners and hikers out early for a crisp, foggy morning. We ended up having a great run, though, logging about 6 miles of trail and feeling pretty strong after some good runs on our week off. We're trying out a new plan for the cold season - go as long as possible with light clothing until forced to break out the "winter" gear. We'll see how it goes - you always feel better (and run better) when not mummified by multiple layers of clothing.

After Kathleen took off, Steve went with Sage to the local park to get her a little exercise. Australian Shepherds do not do well when they have to stay inside all day! Sage actually enjoys this time of year much more than her parents, especially with the heavy fur coat she wears. She looks darn good for getting ready to celebrate her 11th birthday! As you can see behind her, there were no mountain vistas to be had today. The weather is calling for more of the same tomorrow, not good since we need a long run. Our walk was cut short by the rain man - we made it home a little damp and then the rain really started. One of those gray days... So I was forced to put on a pot of coffee rather than rake leaves and mow the lawn - bummer!!! In case you were wondering, I am a coffee freak. Kathleen does not like hot drinks, so she has been more of an iced tea person. However, I recently got her hooked on Iced Mochas (key=chocolate), so my espresso maker has been doing extra duty. Back to the Joe - today I brewed some Organic Blacklightning from Aroma Coffee of Santa Fe that I picked up while in New Mexico. It is quite a nice coffee, smooth and dark which is my preference. Contrary to what you might think, the dark roasts are not necessarily the strongest in terms of caffeine. What I like about the dark roasts that I generally buy is that they are not as bitter and don't leave the after taste of some of the brighter roasts. If you are a coffee junkie also, I would highly suggest trying out some beans from Rocky Mountain Roastery in Fraser, CO. I have three all time favorites there - Italian Roast, Organic French Roast, and Team Totally Wired. RMR is a small batch roaster and often times when you order beans, they were roasted the same day or the previous day and come to you nice and fresh! Plus, they are coming straight from one of our favorite trail areas on the planet so every cup evokes memories of sweet singletrack.

1 comment:

(and don't cha love the "life is good" brand?!?!? runners are always happy and lovin' life for the most part- so every time I see this brand with their slogan- I always have to nod and agree. Yes- LIFE IS good:-)

oh....more annoying marathon questions for you.....

do you begin a marathon full of layers? then do you just throw them to the side of the road for the crew to donate? do you come back and get your layers after the race? I'm trying to figure out a plan for this one.

About Us

We love trail running and biking in the mountains of Colorado and the desert Southwest. We enjoy spending time together, seeing new places, and meeting people who enjoy the outdoors like we do! We were thrown a little bit of a curve ball in March 2011 when Kathleen was diagnosed with Graves Disease, an auto-immune thyroid disorder. After trying to treat the disease with an anti-thyroid drug for a year and not achieving the results we had hoped for, she had radio-active iodine treatment (RAI) in February 2012 and is now in "wait and see" mode. We hope to have her back up and heading toward normal function some time during the summer of 2012 and back to true Happy Trailing. It has caused a little change of pace (slower) and a bit of a temporary life 'detour'. This is new and unexpected territory so the journey should be interesting, challenging, and hopefully still fun!
'To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven.'
Ecclesiastes 3:1

Graves Disease Foundation

Do all the good you can, By all the means you can, In all the ways you can, In all the places you can, At all the times you can, To all the people you can, As long as ever you can.-John Wesley

We will miss our sweet girl, Sage

Dec 1997 - Jun 2010

Weather

Followers

Watch your thoughts, for they become words.Watch your words, for they become actions.Watch your actions, for they become habits.Watch your habits, for they become character.Watch your character, for it becomes your destiny.